Monday, 3 June 2013

Princess Chelsea - We're So Lost

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

Having studied piano since childhood, it was obvious that Chelsea Nikkel's life would involve music at some point, especially as she also began playing drums, clarinet and guitar. It wasn't long before she began writing songs, and now the New Zealand artist goes by the name Princess Chelsea. With the songs and the musical ability, all that was missing were the production skills to make this whole thing a reality. Having spent some time studying this aspect of music, Princess Chelsea released her debut album 'Lil' Golden Book' in 2011. Chelsea is also a part of the same Aukland scene that has brought us the likes of Lawrence Arabia and Ruby Suns, so she's in good company.

New single 'We're So Lost' is the first new material since the album and its singles; it's not hard to see how she's been attracting attention in the Northern Hemisphere too. The song makes great use of these production skills, adding different effects to her vocals and also the wide variety of instruments she uses, some of which are tricky to identify. Put basically, 'We'e So Lost' is a dreampop song, with the emphasis on pop, or maybe like a more commercial version of early Portishead. It twinkles and chimes as well as experiments with magical, fantasy-land sounds. It's not alone on this release, and B-side 'When The World Turns Grey' makes good use of her classical training and is a more conventional track on the surface but has no trouble in creating a mood and adding some interesting effects too. All that hard work has definitely paid off.